Tis the season

It's rummage sale season!!!! So very excited about this! My mom and Brett came down on Saturday so we could hit up Clarion's city wide garage sales ~ we got some good deals. Here's what $16 can buy you...

• Halloween costume
• book
• a few toys that light up and play music
• 3 pair of shorts
• 2 rompers
• 6 shirts
• brand new headbands
• polo shirt for Adam
• decorative mirror
• plastic bowls/snack containers

The mirror is probably my favorite find - I plan on painting the trim black (currently brown) and hanging it above the fire place. It was only $3!!!!! It will be my first DIY project of the summer - I'm hoping to also paint our dresser black and update the hardware. I'm sure there will be a blog to follow.

Prayer requests: My Grandma Betty (mom's mom) finds out the results from her breast biopsies on Monday afternoon. Her mother died of breast cancer. Please pray for cancer-free results!

Also, please pray for our good friend Kyle, as he left his wife and newborn son today for approximately 400 days to fight for our freedom. Kyle is currently in Georgia for some training and then he will be going to Iraq. I couldn't possibly imagine how difficult it would be to leave your children for so long, especially a newborn. Kyle is going to miss his son's first year of life. Not only will it be hard for Kyle, but his wife and son as well. Please pray that Kyle, and all other service men and women, will return home to their families safely some day.

I'm a mom because...

I yell at teenagers who drive by too fast!

Today Adam and I were sitting outside trying to soak up some sun when two high schoolers came speeding down the alley across the street from us and then proceeded to speed down our drive way. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, however, there is a daycare across the street from us and the kids were outside playing at the time. I heard the babysitter yell at the first car and then I jumped out of my chair just in time to get to the alley to yell at the second car.

Adam ran inside the house and got his keys to his squad car and tracked down the two cars. He chewed both of their butts out and was STILL mad when he came home. The high school boys said that they like driving fast down alleys - how stupid! The thrill of driving fast down an alley is not worth running over a little kid! Which could have EASILY happened because the daycare kids are always riding their bikes down that alley. And someday Harper will be outside playing too.

I feel like my parents now! My parents would occasionally yell out the window at everyone speeding over the bump in front of our old house. Now I see what the big deal was!

Problem Solver

Harper has already started developing her problem solving skills!

Check out what Harper does when she just can't seem to escape one of her toys :)

I wish I knew what was going through her mind every time she stopped to look at her toy ~ I'm sure she was cursing at it in baby language :)

Registered!

I am officially registered for nursing classes for the fall semester and it feels so GOOD! I had my nursing orientation today to get everything ready for next year. I am excited to start going to school full-time again but also nervous at the same time. The nursing coordinator said that a lot of studying will need to be done EVERY day - yikes! Kind of hard on the nights when Adam will be at work and I'm at home with a crazy one year old! BUT~ I know I can do it! :) I'm ready for the challenge!

Houston.....

WE HAVE LIFT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Harper is now crawling!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got a text from Adam while I was at work on Saturday morning that read, 'Harper just crawled 10 steps in a row.' By the time I got home, Harper was crawling all around the living room! She has been working on it for a few weeks now - taking a few 'steps' here and there - she never did go through the 'army crawl' phase. We are SO proud of her - she is such a big girl!

She hasn't been too adventurous thus far - she's breaking us in easy :) She will crawl longer distances if she's prompted by something cool - like the computer, cellphone, or remote! Otherwise, she still sits and plays with her toys and doesn't really go anywhere.

Just as I was loading the video for this blog, I saw a tiny little head out of the corner of my eye - Harper came to see me! So maybe she is starting to do a little more exploring! We are really enjoying this stage of her life- she is so much fun!

Taco Meatballs

I tried a new recipe last night - taco meatballs - and they were pretty tasty and very easy to make!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 green onion, finely diced (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
• 1 block sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Beat eggs and mix all ingredients together, except the cheese
• Mold a tablespoon of meat around a cheese cube to form a small shaped meatball. Repeat with all meat
• Place on edged cookie sheet (sprayed with non-stick spray) ad bake for 7 - 10 minutes or until meat is done and cheese has melted.

*I served the meatballs with black beans, but they could be served with pasta or served as a meatball sub/wrap.

*Any cheese would work~I used Monterrey Jack, but pepper jack would be delicious as well!

* I used a little more meat so the meatballs were bigger since we were having them as the main dish. I noticed that the less meat I used, the more cheese oozed out.

* I placed the meatballs on a cooling rack that I set on top of the cookie sheet to ensure even baking (Thank you Rachael Ray for that tip!)

Another new recipe that I made yesterday = cinnamon applesauce for Harper! Now that she is used to regular applesauce, I thought that I would introduce her to a new flavor. The nice thing about making your own baby food is that you can adjust the flavor to your baby's liking.

Tearing Down the House

Literally!!!!

Never leave an active 7 month old unsupervised for less than five minutes - or this is what happens...

Your floor lamps will go crashing to the floor! Luckily this is just a plastic cheapy from Wal-Mart that weighs next to nothing!

"So this is what happens when I pull on the lamp..."

"What Mom?! I'm just having fun!"

Date Night / 7 months

***** Blog is under construction ****

Last night Adam and I had a date night - a very much needed date night! We went to Fort Dodge and watched the 'The Bounty Hunter' and then ate a new Chinese/hibachi restaurant. Harper stayed home with Grandma June. We really appreciate June volunteering to come watch Harper so we can get out every now and then! Thank you June! I'm glad that you two had a good time!

Harper turned SEVEN months today! She is so much fun right now! We love watching her learn how to do new things. She is such a happy baby ~ always smiling!

Weight: 18 + lbs

Diaper Size: 3

Clothing Size: 6-9 months

Teeth: FIVE! The sixth one is cutting through right now!

Speech: first word was Dada! Still babbling, laughing, blow bubbles, squealing

Eating Habits: 4 oz bottle every three hours; as well as oatmeal cereal for breakfast, veggies for lunch, and fruit and rice cereal for supper; so far Harper has tried carrots, pears, sweet potatoes, apples, avocado, green beans, peas, squash, peaches - she loves EVERYTHING!

Sleeping Habits: we're finally up to hours naps now - yay! One morning nap, early afternoon nap and late afternoon nap. Bed time is around 8 - and she sleeps until the early morning - has a bottle and goes back to bed until 8ish.

Favorite Toy: leap frog music table or anything else that plays music

Favorite Activity: playing on the floor

Firsts:

• said Dada
• can get into sitting position by herself
• pulling up to knees
• swimming (loves it!)

You Are My Sunshine

You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

You make me happy

When skies are grey

You'll never know, dear

How much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

All in a weeks work

We've had a busy week here in the Nerlien household - learning lots of new things! Here is what Miss H has learned to do this week:

• get into sitting position from all fours - and vise verse
• say dada - well she just kind of babbles dada - usually when she gets tired and is whiny ( I guess our next child will be a boy according to the old wives tale - but let's not worry about that for a few more years!)
• pull herself up to her knees - this makes for an interesting bath time - she's constantly grabbing the side of the tub and trying to pull up - my stress level is now through the roof during bath time!

I don't make these blogs to brag about her milestones - I use them as a reference when I fill out her baby book. I'm a huge procrastinator - so it's nice to search through the blog to see her stats and milestones. Funny how I can record them on here but not it her book?!?!?!

Here are a few videos of her new 'tricks' - she is getting so big - I LOVE the stage that she is at now - it is so much fun! She will be SEVEN months on Sunday! Crazy!

Easter Weekend Part II

We got together with my family on Easter Sunday. We didn't do anything fancy - my parents and brothers came down and we grilled out! How traditional is that?!?! It sure was delicious though!

Harper's First Easter

Checking out her Easter basket

Anything else in there???

Harper w/ Uncle Brett, Papa, Grandma, and Uncle Michael

After this weekend, Harper scored 9 summer outfits! We started with ZERO! I can't wait for rummage sales to start! I'm planning on buying a few more summer outfits - but I'm really on the hunt for summer pajamas and more onesies. Let the sales begin!

Easter Weekend Part I

Happy Easter Everyone! We had a very busy weekend spending time with family ~ it was great! I am going to make two blogs because I have a lot of pictures that I would like to post and it's getting late. Plus I haven't started studying for my test tomorrow!!!!

Our weekend started by taking a little trip to Emmetsburg on Friday afternoon to stay at the Wild Rose Casino/Hotel. We met Adam's entire family there and we had a great time just hanging out. We swam, ordered pizza, had a few drinks and socialized and even did a little gambling. No one won:( BUT, our hotel rooms were FREE because Gary and June have a very good friend that works there that hooked all of us up!

Harper and Daddy chillin' in the hotel room

Harper and Grandma June

Harper with her friend Lauren (Thank you for changing her explosive dirty diaper!)


Harper and Daddy laying in bed again - do you see a trend?!

Harper and her favorite Cousin Abby (she is WONDERFUL with Harper - and Harper loves her too!)

Getting ready to go swimming for the first time- she loved it!

Swimming with Dad - they had a great time!

On Saturday we drove to Curlew (which is just a few miles away from Emmetsburg) to have Easter Dinner with Adam's Grandma. Harper was such a good girl on Saturday! She usually gets overstimulated by too many people and she has never been to fond of her Grandpa Gary, but here is PROOF that she really does love her Grandpa!

Grandma June fed Harper lots of yummy food. Sorry Harper, you're too little for m & m's - but you did enjoy the ice cream, pudding, and whip cream that Grandma fed you!

This is what took place while the women were cleaning up!

Harper had a GREAT first Easter! Grandma and Grandpa Nerlien got Harper an Easter basket filled with goodies! She got a few summer outfits, books, a duck that quacks that she absolutely LOVES, and her first set of keys!

Harper checking out GREAT Grandma Judy!

Four generations of Nerliens

Part II coming later......